Differing opinions in California on aquaculture, in which Joe Biden has been called for putting order over the issue. On the one hand, fishermen and activists defend their position to hit the local economy and the environment. On the other hand, the project and its supporters explain that aquaculture is the fastest growing and most sustainable food production sector.
Pacific Ocean AquaFarms is a pioneering project in California that seeks to harvest Californian-native yellowtail followed by white seabass production. This would be based on the installation of submersible net pens approximately 4 nautical miles off the coast of San Diego.
The project, which is supported by the Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, is still in the red tape. NOAA since 2020 has been the entity in charge of preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the project. That is why it still lacks federal and state permits and that is where the call from opponents to Joe Biden comes in, asking him not to continue with Trump-era policies.
As a result, fishermen in the area and activists against the project protested and called for changes in the past week. For the moment, everything is moving forward slowly and Joe Biden made no statement in response to the protests.